Guides for paper magazine



Aug. 8, 1967 J. J. VAN ACKER 3,334,394

GUIDES FOR PAPER MAGAZINE Filed Sept. 7, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. JOHN J. VAN/40x51? BY W 0 le AT TOIPNE).

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Aug. 8, 1957 Filed Sept. 7, 1965 ,J. J. VAN ACK'ER GUIDES FOR PAPER MAGAZINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JOHN J. VANAcKER ATTORNEY. v

United States Patent 3,334,894 GUIDES FOR PAPER MAGAZINE John J. Van Acker, Chesterland, Ohio, assignor to Addressograph-Multigraph Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 7, 1965, Ser. No. 485,266 Claims. (Cl. 271-61) The present invention relates to guides for a paper magazine and, more particularly, to adjustable guides for the paper magazine of a duplicating machine or the like.

Printing and duplicating machines conventionally utilize some form of guides for maintaining the stack of paper in the magazine in register, thereby permitting feeding of the sheets in accurate alignment from the magazine to the feeding mechanism. In printing machines wherein the sheets are fed from the top of the stack of paper in the magazine, and the stack is raised in increments to maintain the top of the stack at the proper feeding level, it is customary to utilize guides extending downwardly from above the stack and into engagement with the edges of a few of the sheets at thetop of the stack. Such guides are normally provided at both sides and at the rear of the stack to afford positive stops for the sheets and thereby accurately position them during the feeding operation.

Guides such as set forth above are preferably made to be movable to accommodate various sizes of sheets and also to permit them to be moved out of the way when loading or unloading paper into and from the magazine. Additionally, the guides incorporate releasable clamping means to permit them to be held fast when in position against the stack and to be released when it is desired to move or reposition the guides. While these features are generally found in the various guides currently available, there are still certain disadvantages in the way of operator inconvenience, high cost and the like. In this regard, some of the prior art devices require the use of tools each time an adjustment of the guides is made, thus resulting in a somewhat difficult and time-consuming operation. Other arrangements utilize guides which are not interchangeable from the sides to the rear of the stack, or from one side to the other, thereby increasing the cost of manufacturing the guides. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide improved guides for a paper magazine which obviate the disadvantages of prior art devices.

It is another object of the present invention to provide guides which are readily movable and which can be clamped in position without the use of tools.

Another object of the invention is to provide guides of identical construction that may be used as either side or rear guides for the paper stack.

Another object of the invention is to provide releasable clamping means for the guides which are easy to manipulate and positive in holding the guides against inadvertent movement.

Another object of the present invention is to provide guides for a paper magazine which are economical to produce, attractive in appearance and extremely positive in their function of retaining the paper stack in accurate alignment in the magazine.

In general, these and other objects of the invention may be attained in accordance with the practice of the present invention by providing a guide releasably secured in a depending position relative to an extension bar in any one of several different angular positions, such that the guide can be utilized at either side or at the rear of the paper stack. A clamp device is mounted for sliding movement on a support, and the extension bar is retained by the clamp device against the supportin such a way that by 3,334,894 Patented Aug. 8, 1967 releasing the clamp device movement of the extension bar is permitted which allows movement of the respective guide towards and away from the stack of paper in the magazine. A thumb operated locking lever is provided on the clamp device to effect simultaneous clamping of the extension bar and the clamp device to the support when the guide is properly positioned with respect to the paper stack.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof now considered to be the best mode contemplated for applying these principles. Other embodiments of the in vention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a paper magazine of a duplicating machine and shows a rear guide and a side guide, in accordance with the present invention, in position against a paper stack;

FIG. 2 is a section taken along the line 22 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along the line 33 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a guide member.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown in dotted outline a pair of duplicating machine feeder side plates 10 and 12. A frame 13 comprises a pair of auxiliary side plates 14 and 16 mounted on the side plates 10 and 12 respectively, and extending outwardly over a stack of paper 17 positioned in a paper magazine indicated generally at 18. The auxiliary side plates 14 and 16 are pivotally attached to side plates 10 and 12 at their upper forward ends shown at 20 in FIG. 1, and are held in spaced apart relation at their rear ends by a tie-bar 22. The lower forward ends of the side plates 14 and 16 are each provided with a pin 24, 24 which serve as stops against the side plates 10 and 12. Further, each of the side plates 14 and 16 have a rail or bar 26 and 28 respectively, secured to the inside surface along the top edge, for supporting a movable cross bar or guide support 30. Guide assemblies indicated generally at 32 are mounted on the cross bar 30 which is provided with clearance notches 34, 34 at its ends to permit sliding movement of the cross bar on the rails 26 and 28. The cross bar may be locked at any position along the rails by fastening means such as the thumb screws shown at 36, 36.

From the fore-going description, it will be understood that the auxiliary side plates 14 and 16 are adapted to be pivoted upwardly as a unit about the pivots 20, to thereby also raise the guide assemblies 32 mounted on the support 30. This arrangement permits access to the paper 17 in the magazine, for either loading or unloading operations, and does not disturb the settings of the guide assemblies when the unit is again lowered into operative position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2, one of the novel guide assemblies 32 is positioned at each side of the paper stack 17 and two guide assemblies are positioned at the rear of the stack. However, since these assemblies are identical in construction, only one assembly will be described in detail.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, each guide assembly 32 comprises a guide member 40, an extension bar 42, a clamp 44 and a locking lever or cam 46. The guide 40 (see also FIG. 5) is preferably of die cast construction and is provided with a flat head 48 forming a right angle with a depending body 50. The lower portion of the body 50 terminates in a gradual curved surface formed outwardly from the body in the direction of the head 48. This curved surface serves to lead the guide against the edges of the paper stack without interfering therewith when the guide is lowered into position by pivoting downwardly the auxiliary side plates 14 and 16 as mentioned above. The upper surface of the flat head 48 is provided with a substantially square shaped upwardly projecting lug or locator 52 disposed within a clearance recess 54, and adapted to coact with a square opening 60 provided in the extension bar 42, for a purpose to be explained hereinafter.

The head 48 is further provided with a threaded stud 56 which projects upwardly therefrom as shown in FIG. 3. The stud may be provided with a knurled shoulder for assembling the stud by a forced driving fit in a hole 58 provided in the head and through the lug 52. The stud serves to mount the guide 40 to the extension bar 42 by positioning the locator 52 within the square opening 60 provided in the extension bar and tightening the guide in place with a hand nut 62. It will be appreciated, this construction permits positioning of the guide 40 in any one of four different angular positions relative to the extension bar merely by loosening the nut 62 and repositioning the locator 52 within the opening 60 in the extension bar 42. In this way, the guides 40 may all be identical in construction and can be utilized as either right or left side guides for the paper stack, as well as for rear guides.

The clamp device 44 for retaining the extension bar 42 is best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and is also preferably .a die casting. The clamp 44 provides a pair of side walls 64 and 66 connected together by a pair of cross members 68 and 70, such that the walls afford an opening 72 below the cross members for the reception of the cross bar 30, and an opening 74 above the cross members for the reception of the locking lever 46. When the clamp is mounted on the cross bar 30, the side walls 64 and 66 straddle the bar. The side walls 64 and 66 are also provided with a pair of aligned openings 76 and 78 respectively, at a position adjacent the lower edge of the cross bar 30, for receiving the extension bar 42. The extension bar is releasably retained in the openings 76 and 78, in a manner to be explained below, to permit sliding movement thereof for positioning of a rear guide 40 towards or away from the paper stack in the magazine, or positioning a side guide at the appropriate position along the side of the paper stack.

The locking lever or cam 46 is pivotally mounted at the top of the clamp 44 and within the opening 74 provided by the side walls. The lever is preferably made of tough, wear resistant molded plastic (e.g. nylon) and comprises a camming surface 80, a pair of stop surfaces 82 and 84, and an arcuate top surface 86 terminating at one end in a finger lift 87. Since the lever or cam 46 is adapted for thumb actuation, the top surface 86 may be provided with a series of ribs or grooves 88 to afford a thumb grip during actuation of the lever. In moving into and out of clamping position the cam surface 80 rubs with heavy pressure on the contacting parts, and by making the same of plastic it is possible to avoid the problems of noise and wear which might otherwise be encountered.

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the locking lever 46 is shown in its clamping position and the stop surface 82 is resting on the cross member 68 of the clamp. To unlock the lever, thumb pressure is applied to the top surface of the lever while lifting upwardly on the finger lift 87 to rotate the lever in a clockwise direction until the stop surface 84 abuts the cross member 70, to thereby relieve the pressure of the camming surface 88 against the support. In order to effect this friction locking arrangement of the clamp to the cross bar, and to provide an adjustment for increasing or decreasing the amount of pressure contact provided by the camming surface 80 so as to accurately set the proper value to give a fir-rn effective clamping action without requiring excessive manual operation strain, the lever 46 is pivotally supported on an eccentric central portion 89 of a cross pin 90. The pin is retained in place by a screw 92 which threads into an axially tapped hole in the end thereof. Thus, by loosening the screw 92, pin 90 may be turned in either direction to effect a very slight raising or lowering of the camming surface with respect to the cross bar 30 and, when properly positioned, the screw 92 is again tightened to maintain the pin in set position. It will be appreciated that the degree of eccentricity of the central portion 89 is extremely slight and hence not susceptible of ready illustration in the drawing.

Referring now to the openings 76 and 78 in the side walls of the clamp 44, it will be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 that the openings are of a size to slidably receive the extension bar 42. Accordingly, when the locking lever 46 is rotated to its clamping position shown in FIG. 4, the pressure caused by the camming surface 80 on the cross bar 30 is effective to impart a lifting movement to the clamp device 44 to thereby cause the extension bar 42 to be raised into clamped relationship with the bottom edge of the cross bar. This single actuation of the locking lever 46, therefore, results in locking both the clamp 44 and the extension bar 42 in any desired position along the length of the cross bar 30.

To prevent any skidding or creeping of the clamp 44 and the extension bar 42 at the time they are being locked into place on the support 30, which might cause some difficulty in attempting to properly position the guide 40 against the edge of the paper stack, a spring steel shoe 94 is provided between the camming surface 80 and the top edge of the cross bar. The shoe is made to fit snugly between the inside faces of the cross members 68 and 70, as shown in FIG. 4, and is held against dislodgement by providing a flange 96 at each end of the shoe which bears against the cross members 68, 70. In this way, with the lever 46 in unlocked position, the extension bar 42 may be moved to position the guide 40 so that the face of the body 50 of the guide just touches the edge of the paper stack, and the lever can be locked with a straight clamping force free of the possibility of any inadvertent side component.

In addition to the above, the body 50 of the guide 40 may also be provided with an elongate opening 98 as best shown in FIG. 5. This opening is adapted to receive a nozzle or jet, vertically adjustable within the opening 98 and connected by a hose to the air pump of the duplicating machine, to provide an air blower for rifiling the sheets in the stack prior to their being fed from the magazine. The slots permit accurate positioning of the nozzles to a level suited precisely to the portion of the paper stack against which the particular guide element 40 is to be placed.

A summary of a typical application utilizing the guide and clamping devices of the present invention will now be given. Conventionally, guides of this nature are posi tioned one at each side of the paper stack and one at the rear of the stack, unless the paper is of a large size in which case two rear guides are preferably used as shown in FIG. 2.

With the paper stack 17 in place in the magazine, the cross bar 30 is moved to a position near the rear of the stack and is locked in place by tightening the thumb screws 36, 36 against the rails 26 and 28. The clamps 44 are then placed on the cross bar with the levers 46 in unlocked position. If the rear guide is to be assembled first, the guide 40 is fastened to the extension bar 42 by positioning the locator 52 in the opening 60 in the extension bar, with the head 48 of the guide facing rearwardly as shown in FIG. 3, and the guide is locked in place by tightening the nut 62. The end of the extension bar opposite the guide is then slid into the openings 76 and 78 of the clamp 44 until the face of the body 50 of the guide just touches the edges of the sheets in the stack,

and the lever 46 is rotated in an anticlockwise direction to the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 wherein the cam ming surface 80 is effective to lock the guide and the clamp to the cross bar. Obviously, the other rear guide is assembled and mounted to the cross bar in the same way.

The right side guide is also assembled in the manner described above, with the exception that the guide 40 is fastened to the extension bar 42 by placing the locator 52 into the opening 60 in such position that the body 50 of the guide is positioned 90 from the position of the rear guide shown in FIG. 3, i.e., as viewed from the bottom of FIG. 3, the guide 40 is rotated 90 in a clockwise direction and is locked in place by the nut 62.

The left guide is positioned in a manner similar to the right guide except, instead of being rotated in a clockwise direction as viewed from the bottom of FIG. 3, it is rotated 90 in an anticlockwise direction from the position of the rear guide shown in FIG. 3.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that the novel device of the present invention provides for quick and easy positioning of the guides in proper relation with respect to a paper stack in a feeder magazine, as well as providing readily actuatable clamping means for positively holding the guides against inadvertent movement. Further, the device provides a novel arrangement for fastening the guide to the extension bar in any one of several different positions such that the same guide can be utilized at either side or at the rear of the paper stack. This arrangement affords a great deal more flexibility and operator convenience than known prior art devices and, at the same time, substantially reduces the cost of fabricating the guides since they are all identical in construction and can be made from a common mold.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, it is to be understood that these are capable of variation and modification. Accordingly, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such variations and modifications as may fall within the true spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Guide apparatus for a paper stack in a feeder magazine comprising:

a support means positioned across the paper stack;

an extension bar extending normal to said support means for carrying a guide element;

a clamp device mounted for slidable movement on the support means and slidably supporting the extension bar;

manually operable cam means pivotally mounted on said clamp device and operable between a locking position and an unlocking position;

said cam means in its locking position being effective to restrain movement of the clamp device along the support and the extension bar within the clamp device by clamping the clamp device and the extension bar to the support means.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the cam means comprises an integral camming surface and manual operating means, said camming surface being movable into a position to apply pressure against the support means when the manual operating means is moved to its locking position.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the cam is eccentrically mounted to provide for adjustment of the degree of pressure exerted by the cam when in locking position.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 which includes a shoe positioned between and in contact with the camming surface and the support means, to prevent creeping of the clamp device as the lever is being moved to its locking position.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 in which the camming surface and the manual operating means are integrally molded of a tough wear resistant plastic material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,262,781 11/1941 Shipp 271-61 2,358,560 9/1944 Curtis 27l62 2,639,150 5/1953 Aberle 27l62 M. HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner.

R. A. SCHACHER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. GUIDE APPARATUS FOR A PAPER STACK IN A FEEDER MAGAZINE COMPRISING: A SUPPORT MEANS POSITIONED ACROSS THE PAPER STACK; AN EXTENSION BAR EXTENDING NORMAL TO SAID SUPPORT MEANS FOR CARRYING A GUIDE ELEMENT; A CLAMP DEVICE MOUNTED FOR SLIDABLE MOVEMENT ON THE SUPPORT MEANS AND SLIDABLY SUPPORTING THE EXTENSION BAR; MANUALLY OPERABLE CAM MEANS PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID CLAMP DEVICE AND OPERABLE BETWEEN A LOCKING POSITION AND AN UNLOCKING POSITION; SAID CAM MEANS IN ITS LOCKING POSITION BEING EFFECTIVE TO RESTRAIN MOVEMENT OF THE CLAMP DEVICE ALONG THE SUPPORT AND THE EXTENSION BAR WITHIN THE CLAMP DEVICE BY CLAMPING THE CLAMP DEVICE AND THE EXTENSION BAR TO THE SUPPORT MEANS. 